Mount Depression Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Mount Depression is a black metal band active since 2013. Over the years, it has undergone various changes in its sound, always maintaining black metal (perhaps more atmospheric black metal initially) alongside dark ambient in most of its releases. In its 12 years of activity, it has an extensive and varied discography, even experimenting with black/noise styles in some releases. Line up: Juan Pineda in Drums, Ramon Ortiz, bass and E.N in guitar/vocals.

2.Recently you have released a new ep, musically how does ti differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Our latest EP is called Act of Illusion, preceded by our live album Live Dark Ritual, recorded in northern Argentina, in the city of Salta, in May of this year. Regarding our previous releases, the EP Act of Illusion has a slightly more "polished" sound compared to our earlier work, with more focus on guitars and some keyboard and ambient tracks provided by excerpts from horror films, in this case, the Korean film R-Point (2004).

3.Since 2014 the band has been  recording and releasing a great amount of material, do you spend a great out of time writing and creating music?

Generally, I, (E.N.), spend a lot of time on composition, usually guided by what inspires me at the moment. Spending a lot of time focused on listening to different music styles always brings inspiration to create something at any time. I usually record the ideas for the initial riffs, and then I compose the entire instrumental based on that initial riff. However, with the addition of bassist Ramón Ortiz, the composition process expanded even further, as he also records his ideas and sends them to me. This led to the creation of new songs like "King's Burial." With the participation of Juan Pineda on drums, we managed to finalize all the composition ideas during rehearsals. I no longer tend to compose with digital drums, as I did before.

4.Some of your recordings have been more ambient and experimental while some of brought out a more raw and dpressive black metal style, do you feel making a lot of the recordings sound different keeps the band away from stagnating and repeating the same thing over?

If there's one thing I agree with, it's that quantity isn't quality. However, I've always been guided by inspiration at a given moment, and although we've left a lot of material unreleased over these 12 years, we don't have albums that sound too similar to each other. That's exactly what I wanted to achieve—that each release would offer a different experience.

5.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored with the newer music and also how would you describe your prgress as songwriters over the years?

The themes of the song lyrics revolve around the deepest emotions and traumatic situations a human being can experience (on one hand). On the other hand, in the beginning, we were more oriented toward DSBM (Depressive Suicidal Black Metal), and this whole concept of "suffering" led us to look a bit further. B-class horror and more unsettling themes were highly inspiring for the creation of our latest albums, such as Bloodstained or Fullmoon Killer. In Mount Depression, you are not the victim—you are the killer.

The writing process is always sparked by a phrase. For example, "Dying Under The Master's Vision" was a phrase I had written down in a notebook, and based on that phrase, I wrote the song's lyrics, which are centered on vices.

6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Mount Depression'?

Mount Depression is essentially like saying "downward spiral." Mount represents a height, and Depression signifies the descent.

7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new ep cover?

The cover art of our EP Act of Illusion depicts a nun in a state of possession, while simultaneously displaying an "immaculate" purity. Hence the title Act of Illusion, showing that nothing is what it seems, especially within an institution as corrupt as the church.

8.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Our best show to date was captured live on the album Dark Live Ritual. Why do I say this, having gone through so many lineup changes? Because I was able to have complete control over the guitar sound, which is what I aimed for as a guitarist in particular. This is not to diminish the work of previous guitarists, who always worked hard to contribute to the band’s sound and gave their all for Mount Depression, for which we are endlessly grateful. I had to stop focusing solely on vocals, so I took on both vocals and guitar. In second place is our live album The Knife and the Life Option, recorded with professional sound quality. This ranking, of course, is subject to change in the future.Regarding our performances, our delivery is direct and raw, with fast songs designed to create an atmosphere that gets the audience to react. Obviously, things have changed a lot since I stopped solely focusing on vocals and started singing and playing guitar. The goal is to make the show as good as possible, and gradually, we plan to incorporate more theatrical elements. Mount Depression is blood, and that’s what defines our latest shows.

9.The band has also been a part of a great amount of splits, can you tell us a little bit more about the bands you have shared these recordings with?

Over the years, we’ve collaborated with a wide variety of artists on splits, mostly one-man band projects, with many being multi-instrumentalists, as well as some bands from abroad. For example, to name a few, Suicide Movement from Spain, and Elegiac from the United States (who also collaborated on a song for our third album, and whose label released our second album). We’ve also worked with projects from places where this kind of music is banned, such as Vitaphobia from Iran, among many other artists.

10.You have also worked with a few labels on the physical versions of your releases, can you tell us a little bit more about the labels you have worked with so far?

We’ve had both great and bad experiences with labels over the years. We started, like many projects, with Depressive Illusions Records. Back in 2014, when I received the physical copies, I couldn’t believe our music had been released in physical format. Sacrificial Sounds, run by Zane Young, the singer of Elegiac, did amazing editions of the album Servants of Hate. Voices Defying Death, from Argentina, also released this same album on tape in a run of 200 copies, a huge number for us when we were just starting out. Cvlminis was also involved in a wide range of releases, both albums and splits. The now-defunct label Wulfrune Worxx released our first EP About My Impure Thoughts and our first album Suffering in Peace on tape. On the flip side, we’ve had bad experiences too—some labels never sent the copies they owed us, and there were also shipments that got lost or returned to their country of origin due to poor management by our country’s postal service.

11.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of depressive black metal?

Globally, we’ve had a pretty good response, much more than I expected when we started—it exceeded my expectations. However, since we still don’t have a solid circuit of live performances, we’re focusing more on releasing a new album and playing live more frequently.

12.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band membets are a part of?

Our bassist, Ramón Ortiz, comes from a completely different genre, Punk Rock, which he continues to explore in parallel with the band through his project called Otra Superficie.

Our drummer, Juan Pineda, doesn’t have any other side projects. He’s very committed to the band he’s in and is one of the few drummers (or perhaps the only drummer I know) who is dedicated to just one band.

13.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Mount Depression has a lot of material and potential to bring to the studio. Having finished this new album, we want to play, perform live, travel, and play shows wherever possible—we really want to take our music everywhere.

14.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Mount Depression is influenced by both the first and second waves of black metal, as well as more classic heavy metal and rock. Bands like Immortal, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Ondskapt, and Bethlehem, alongside Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and, of course, Black Sabbath.

As for what we’re listening to these days, we all have very different tastes in music. Juan might be listening to national heavy metal, the most primitive alternative metal, and Mexican bands at the same time—he’s a true music lover with varied tastes. I’m particularly listening to the album The Black House by Krieg, while Ramón always leans toward punk as well as heavy metal. There’s a lot of musical contrast among us.

15.How would you describe your views on Satanism?

Regarding Satanism as a philosophical perspective, personally, I respect it a lot as a belief, though I haven’t delved deeply into it. As for my bandmates, they haven’t made any comments about it.

16.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

It’s been a long journey, and it’s still going strong.

 We hope to bring you more live shows soon, see you on the road!

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